Twice roasted potatoes
A roast potato should be ultra crispy and golden on the outside with a fluffy light middle. Par-boiling and roughing them up before roasting gives a lovely crunchy exterior and the semolina adds an extra crunchy coating.
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Put the potatoes in a saucepan of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and boil for about 5 minutes, until starting to soften around the edges.
Drain in a colander until completely dry, then put back into the saucepan and shake to roughen up the edges. Sprinkle in the semolina and shake again until coated.
Preheat a large shallow roasting tin in the oven until hot. Add the fat to the tin and heat for 5 minutes until smoking. Carefully add the potatoes, turn in the fat until coated and scatter over the thyme sprigs.
Return to the oven and roast for about 45–55 minutes until golden brown and crisp, turning the potatoes halfway through the cooking time. Serve piping hot.
Recipe Tips
You can prepare the potatoes up to 12 hours ahead of serving. The potatoes can be part-roasted for 35 minutes until golden. Then, before serving, roast again in the hot oven for about 20 minutes.
